The answers to these questions depend on the issuing bank of the credit card. The issuing bank is not the payment network like Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. The issuing bank is the bank that gives you the card, collects interest, and provides customer service. For rewards cards, the main issuing banks are Chase, Citi, American Express, Barclaycard, and Bank of America. I’ve included Capital One as well as they have some lucrative rewards cards.

Let’s look at the rules for each issuing bank, which vary widely. Note that many of these “rules” are not published, rather formed over time by people like us collaborating data points to establish patterns of bank behavior.

New applicants will not be approved for another credit card in the Sapphire family if they already have one open. In other words, if you currently hold a Sapphire card, you’re not eligible for a Sapphire Preferred nor a Sapphire Reserve. If you currently hold a Sapphire Preferred, you’re not eligible for a Sapphire Reserve. If you currently hold a Sapphire Reserve, you’re not eligible for a Sapphire Preferred.

You cannot earn the bonus on the Sapphire Reserve until 48 months past when you earned the bonus on the Sapphire Preferred, and vice versa.

Specific rule for the Southwest co-branded cards: If you have the Personal Plus, Premier Plus, or the Priority Card open, you are not eligible for another Southwest consumer card. You are also ineligible for the bonus on a Southwest consumer card if you have earned a bonus on another consumer card in the last 24 months. The Business Southwest card is a separate product in regards to this rule. In other words, you can have both a consumer Southwest card and a business Southwest card open at the same time.

Specific rules for the Marriott co-branded cards: there are various eligibility stipulations for all the Marriott-family credit cards–which includes all Marriott and SPG cards–that are too detailed to outline here. Read Eligibility Rules for New Marriott & SPG Cards before applying for one.

You can only get the bonus on the same Chase card once every 24 months. This 24 month clock starts when you got the last bonus (which may be several months after you got the card). The exception to this rule is with the Sapphire Reserve and Preferred, as noted above, which you must wait 48 months between.

You probably shouldn’t apply for more than two cards in a 30 day period. Chase is known for denying people who apply for more than that.

PRO TIP: A common reason for Chase denials is too much credit extended to you already by the bank. Consider lowering credit limits on existing cards, or if you end up with a denied response on an application and call the reconsideration line as a last stab effort, suggest the rep shift existing credit of yours from one card to the new one you want. How much credit is too much? Data points say 50 to 60% of your total annual income is the maximum.

American Express

You can only get the bonus on an American Express card once per lifetime, a lifetime being roughly seven years. However if you were targeted for an American Express offer, you can still be approved even if you have had the card before (just make sure the terms of the offer does not include once in a lifetime language).

You can be approved for two Amex charge cards on the same day, but applying for two Amex credit cards will likely result in a pending response for the second application. It doesn’t necessarily mean the second card will be declined, but it’s unlikely they will both be instantly approved. Amex won’t look at the second application until five days after the first.

You can be approved for no more than two Amex cards in a 90 day period. If you want more than two Amex cards, apply for them on days 1, 6, and 91.

You are limited to holding four to five American Express credit cards. Both personal and business count toward this limit. (AMEX Everyday, Delta, and SPG are credit cards.)

Separately, you are limited to holding four to five American Express charge cards. Both personal and business count toward this limit. (AMEX Platinum is a charge card.)

If you’re on the verge and contemplating a fifth credit or charge card, read this post–you can apply basically risk-free.

Specific rules for the Marriott co-branded cards: there are various eligibility stipulations for all the Marriott-family credit cards–including SPG cards issued by Amex as well as the Marriott cards issued by Chase–that are too detailed to outline here. Read Eligibility Rules for New Marriott & SPG Cards before applying for one.

Amex recently added the following ambiguous language to many of their card applications: “We may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your welcome offer eligibility”. At this point, we don’t have enough reports from others to be able to spell out what this means exactly. One would assume if you follow the rules listed above, you would be ok.

Citi

You can apply for no more than one consumer Citi card in an eight day period. If you want two Citi cards, get them on days 1 and 9.

You can apply for no more than two consumer Citi cards in a 65 day period. If you want three Citi cards, get them on days 1, 9, and 66.

You can apply for no more than one business Citi card in a 95 day period.

*The numbers above are for the risk-averse. Technically, you should be able to get one consumer card in a seven day period (so applying on day 1 and 8 should be ok), two consumer cards in a 60 day period (so applying on day 1, 8, and 61 should be ok), and one business card in a day 90 day period (so applying on day 1 and 91 should be ok).

You are only eligible to earn a sign up bonus if you haven’t opened or closed a card from the same type (brand or co-brand) within the last 24 months. For example, Let’s say you opened a Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard seven months ago. That means for the next 17 months (a full 24 months after you opened it) you are not eligible for the same card, nor for the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard. If you close that Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard, the 24 month clock will start over again and you won’t be eligible for that same card nor the Executive version for 24 months past the date you closed it. Business cards are separate products in regards to this rule.

Barclays

Barclays is known for being the most inquiry-sensitive bank. Therefor if you’re on the verge of applying for multiple cards (from various banks), apply for card from Barclays first.

While there’s not a specific rule regarding same-day approvals, it’s not recommendable to apply for multiple cards from Barclays on the same day.

Applicants who apply for a repeat Barclaycard product will probably not be approved for another for at least six months since the last application, and you must cancel the existing card first.

Barclaycard denies people for having too many Barclaycards, not enough spending on existing Barclaycards, too much credit with Barclaycard, or too many accounts with other banks.

Bank of America

At least for the Alaska Airlines personal cards, you are very likely to be denied for another unless you close the existing one first. The best practice is to wait at least 90 days between applications. Read Are the Alaska Cards Still Churnable? to learn all best practices for this card.

For all Bank of America cards…

Bank of America will not approve you for more than two new credit cards within a two month period

Bank of America will not approve you for more than three new credit cards within a 12 month period

Bank of America will not approve you for more than four new credit cards within a 24 month period

Capital One

You can only apply for a Capital One card once every six months.

You can only hold two consumer Capital One-branded credit cards at once. This doesn’t apply to business cards or co-branded cards. Example of Capital One-branded credit card: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. Example of a co-branded Capital One card: Capital One GM Rewards Credit Card.

Bottom Line

Every issuing bank has different rules on how often you can apply for its cards and how often you can get a new bonus on a card you’ve had previously. The rules are changing, and the general trend is toward a tightening of the rules. The rules are sometimes written down and sometimes figured out by aggregating data points on FlyerTalk and Reddit, or good, old-fashioned experimentation.

Bookmark this page if you haven’t already, and make sure you go over the rules for the appopriate issuing bank BEFORE applying for a new rewards card. Or request a Free Credit Card Consultation and I’ll lead you through the maze.

Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.

The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.

Sarah Page Maxwell became a miles nerd after moving her base to Buenos Aires and beginning a transient lifestyle that would be otherwise too expensive without miles and points. In addition to travel, her other passions include hot sauce, yoga, and her boston terrier Omar.

70 COMMENTS

I had 1 or 2 existing cards from barclays and got approved for 2 new ones 3.5 months apart last year after an easy recon call. So it is possible, although maybe not likely.
Some recent developments regarding the Alaska cards, not so easy to get approved for multiple cards now and multiple reports of people getting there alaska mileageplan accounts closed and losing all their points after applying for multiple cards. Be careful with that.

You’re referring to multiple Alaska cards on the same day, correct? Or are you saying people are getting closed down for one Alaska card every 3+ months? Either way, do you happen to have a link to the report?

I think you’re missing a couple of key points in this update… the CIti Executive cards now all have the 18 month language. Alaska cards issued by B of A are in the process of being severely monitored for multiple apps. Both of your statements to the contrary are outdated.

On the Amex SPG personal card, if you got a low bonus (say 4,000 miles) many years ago, are you totally precluded from getting the current bonus (25,000 miles) now? Or can you get the difference if you re-apply?

[…] Fiji, USA to Southern South America in AeroMexico Business Class for 45,000 miles Get the Miles: Churnable personal and business cards. Transfer partner of SPG. Decent mileage sales around 2 cents […]

Citi Bank Rules:
Different cards have different rules for repeating the bonus. The Platinum and Gold AA cards require 18 months from closure of the identical card while the AA Executive card and Citi Prestige® Card allow you to get the bonus over and over without waiting (beyond the limit listed in the first two bullet points) or closing your other AA Executives.
Just finished calling Citi Bank re repeat bonus for AA Executives card. Citi denied bonus due to having had the card less than 18 months ago. The agent said they are strictly re-enforcing the 18months rule.

Scott, got denied 2x yesterday by Citi. I was inside the 8 day and 66 day limits. Will I be able to reapply once the 8 day limit is up, or does my denial put a kink in this? I had just gotten the Prestige card and was after the AA business card.

Considering the changes with Chase, you might want to update this post.

[…] You can pursue both of the strategies outlined above simultaneously, the points strategy for a lot of free nights and the Hilton Reserve strategy for a few unforgettable nights at one of the best hotels in the world. Just make sure that if you get both the Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Visa Signature® Card and the Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card, you get them at least eight days apart. (They are both Citi cards, and Citi will not approve two cards in a week.) […]

[…] had the Mercedes-Benz American Express Platinum, you are ineligible to get the bonus again because Amex now has a strict one-bonus-per-lifetime rule for each card. However this card is a separate product from the “regular” Amex Platinum personal and […]

[…] You can only get the bonus on the same Chase card once every 24 months. This 24 month clock starts when you got the last bonus (which may be several months after you got the card). Read more about issuing bank rules for approvals and new bonuses here. […]

[…] what cards I currently have compared with the latest and best offers. Scott’s articles about issuing banks rules for approvals and new bonuses and the Top 10 Travel Credit Cards both really helped with the […]

[…] This card is issued by Citi. Citi has a general rule that you can only be approved for one card in an eight day period and two cards in a 65 day period. So if you have gotten other Citi cards recently like the Citi Prestige® Card or Citi ThankYou Premier Card, space out your applications, so they are on day 1, day 9, and day 66. […]

[…] Issuing Banks Rules for Approvals and New Bonuses has all the bank rules mentioned throughout this post in an easy to digest, bulleted format. It’s great to bookmark for future reference in case you ever have a question when applying for cards. […]

[…] to take advantage of earning American Airlines miles for your personal and business spending, but you cannot be approved for both on the same day. The collected wisdom is to put at least 8 days between applications for cards issued by […]

[…] Benefit Related to Chase 5/24 Rule: American Express Business Cards don’t appear on your credit report, which means the cards don’t count toward your limit of five new cards in the last 24 months to get a new Chase card. […]

I’ve heard of people churning Alaska cards but is that still possible? I have a personal and business card. My wife has personal but we’d get more and keep them if possible? Can you get as many as you want as long as you wait 90 days? Thanks as we’d love to use more buddy passes

[…] to take advantage of earning American Airlines miles for your personal and business spending, but you cannot be approved for both on the same day. The collected wisdom is to put at least 8 days between applications for cards issued by […]

You say that ” if you currently hold a Sapphire card, you’re not eligible for a Sapphire Preferred nor a Sapphire Reserve”. Does that apply if you are an authorized user on your spouses’s Sapphire card?

The numbers for Citi are incorrect. The numbers you use are the ones recommended on sites like flyertalk to make sure that the actual rules are not broken. The actual app rules are 1/7, 2/60, and 1/90 for biz cards.

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Content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers. These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered. For more information or to see the MileValue Privacy Policy, click here.

Sarah Page Maxwell is a miles aficionado and avid traveler, born in Virginia, raised in North Carolina, and currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has earned and redeemed millions of miles for herself and others. Traveling for free, the 29-year-old has been to 20+ countries, making sure to catch as many sunsets in each that she can.

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Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which MileValue.com receives compensation if you are approved. Compensation impacts placement of cards on the credit card page and banner placement, but does not on the articles posted on MileValue.com. This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace.

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which MileValue.com receives compensation if you are approved. Compensation impacts placement of cards on the credit card page and banner placement, but does not on the articles posted on MileValue.com. This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace.